While economic uncertainty and the changes to daily life caused by the global pandemic have created countless challenges for business owners across many sectors, startup companies founded by UW–Madison innovators have managed to demonstrate resilience.

Since its inception in 2014, UW–Madison’s Discovery to Product (D2P) office has helped launch or grow 56 startup companies led by campus innovators. This number includes 27 existing startups that received assistance over the past fiscal year (July 2019 – June 2020), and 8 new startup companies recently launched during that same period.

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The deadline to apply online is 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.

Applications are being accepted now from young companies that want to tell their stories to investors at our annual Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium #ESSWI, to be held Nov. 9-11 on a virtual platform.

The 2020 format includes two pitch opportunities – the Tech Council Investor Networks track (five-minute presentations) and the popular Elevator Pitch Olympics – as well as “Investor Intros,” which will allow pre-selected companies brief, one-on-one meetings with targeted angel and venture investors.

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A Crisis Innovator is a company that is addressing the virus head-on, whether it be through developing a vaccine, designing Covid test kits or helping retailers abide by social distancing guidelines.

At their core, Crisis Innovators are working to keep people safe amid the virus, and improve the lives of everyone as we endure what is shaping up to be a long and frustrating era.

Shortly after the pandemic began, Madison biopharmaceutical startup FluGen started working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and India-based Bharat Biotech to develop and test a vaccine for Covid-19.

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